Province boosts cost of Alberta floods to $6 billion

James Wood, Calgary Herald09.24.2013

Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths gives an update on flood relief at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. The province gave Calgary a $63-million advance to pay for flood repairs, and announced a symposium next week to discuss flood-mitigation plans for southern Alberta.

The price tag for the worst natural disaster in Alberta history keeps getting higher, with the province’s finance minister now pegging the cost at $6 billion.

Last month, the government estimated the total cost of the June flooding that swept through southern Alberta at more than $5 billion.

But Doug Horner said Tuesday the province is upping its estimate mainly due to the new figures coming from the Insurance Bureau of Canada, which said this week that insured costs are $1.7 billion and growing, making the flood the costliest insured natural disaster in Canadian history.

In an interview from Toronto, Horner cautioned that the $6-billion estimate could still move up or down, and was far from definitive.

“Oh, hell no,” said the finance minister when asked if the figure was official.

“These are all estimates. We don’t know yet in terms of the numbers of applicants and the dollars for reconstruction in terms of some of the engineering that we’ve got done. So until we get firm estimates on some of the mitigation projects, as an example, we’re making sure we’re not short in terms of what we’re estimating.”

When the Tory government released its first quarter financial report last month, the province estimated it would be on the hook for around $3.3 billion of the total costs.

Horner said he thinks that figure may now approach $4 billion, adding that firm figures for the total cost of the flood and the province’s financial burden should be reached in a matter of weeks.

“We want to get it right,” he said.

Major areas of flood-related spending for the province so far include compensation for homeowners moved from floodways, business support programs and property tax relief for affected municipalities.

But the largest component of the province’s spending is its disaster relief program — which makes direct payments to individuals, organizations and small businesses for uninsured losses. A significant portion of those expenditures will ultimately be reimbursed by the federal government and Alberta has already asked for a $500-million advance from Ottawa.

Horner’s comments come the same day as the government announced it is providing its own $63-million advance to Calgary to help pay for flood damage, about a quarter of what the city had asked for.

The city said in July that the cost of damage to public buildings and infrastructure will be well north of $256 million.

Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths said the current expenditure was based on a “quick analysis” of the city’s damage list, and Calgary will receive more money when a further review is completed.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi was caught by surprise by the advance payment but said he was pleased.

“It will really help us with our cash flow,” he said.

“I have it from the minister that this is just the easy stuff. This is not the end. More will be forthcoming but this is the stuff that they looked at and went, ‘let’s just get the money out the door.’ ”

Griffiths also announced Tuesday that Calgary will host a symposium on flood mitigation next week as the provincial government focuses its attention on minimizing the impact of future flooding.

Speaking to a breakfast event hosted by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, Griffiths said the government has already been gathering input through the community mitigation panel it established following the massive flooding that swept through Calgary and southern Alberta in June.

But he repeatedly warned that waters will inevitably rise again.

“This isn’t about flood prevention, because you can’t prevent rain. This isn’t about flood-proofing, because there is no such thing,” said Griffiths.

“It’s about mitigating to lessen the risk and lessen the damage to people’s homes. We could never, ever flood-proof Calgary. There is not enough money in the province to protect it from any possible scenario or event. We can mitigate it to a one in 100 event.”

The symposium, which will be held Oct. 4 at the Deerfoot Inn, will bring together experts, municipalities and First Nations for an educational session and discussion of options.

Earlier this month, the province issued a request for proposals for professional engineering firms to provide consultant services and conduct a feasibility study on mitigation in southern Alberta.

Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith questioned the value of the conference.

“I hope this isn’t just another symposium that they’re holding to look like they’re doing something. I think people actually want to see real projects, some decisions made and construction on those projects starting before the next flood season,” she said.

jwood@calgaryherald.com

With files from Jason Markusoff, Calgary Herald

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